


Agate

by scarletstar



Series: lapis lazuli [2]
Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Blood, Blood Drinking, First Meetings, Fluff, Gen, I Wrote This Instead of Sleeping, learning, obviously, vampire!Mark, vampire!jeno
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-01
Updated: 2019-04-05
Packaged: 2019-12-30 11:50:01
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,887
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18314732
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/scarletstar/pseuds/scarletstar
Summary: Jeno starts his new undead life and meets a cute boy.





	1. this is weird

**Author's Note:**

> agate helps one balance their mind, body, and soul, creating overall balance

 

 

This was weird.

 

Super weird.

 

Not, like, super- _ bad- _ weird, just -- weird.

 

After contemplating his life’s decisions while lying in a pool of his own blood, Jeno hadn’t really expected to, you know,  _ wake up. _ Especially because all of the blood was coming from his head.

 

He  _ especially  _ was not expecting to wake up in some bathroom he’d never seen before with a pounding headache and dry throat. At first, he’d thought that maybe his dorm mate had finally convinced him to attend one of his parties, and he’d just drank so much he blacked out in the tub and dreamed about the lamest death of all time -- like, come on.  _ Tripping?  _  He was clumsy but he didn’t want his cause of death to be  _ tripped on nothing and broke his head on a rock. _

 

How embarrassing.

 

But then he’d noticed the dude sitting next to the tub, who’d introduced himself as Mark, and he knew it hadn’t all been just some dream.

 

He was very hungry -- a strange hunger where his throat burned and his gums ached, but his stomach didn’t growl -- and he told Mark so. If he was stuck in this strange man’s house, he expected to be fed.

 

Mark had told him he’d be able to eat, but that he had to explain some things to Jeno first. This was fine, as long as Jeno got some food out of it.

 

It continued being fine until Mark said  _ vampire _ with such a serious expression that Jeno just had to laugh. He laughed so hard his scratchy throat hurt and he couldn’t breathe. When he doubled over, tears in his eyes, arms wrapped around his stomach, he paused. 

 

Since when did he have  _ abs? _

 

Mark had sighed, led him out of the bathroom, handed him a glass of orange juice, and sat him on the couch. “Didn’t use to have abs, did you?”

 

Jeno shook his head, head still spinning. He held his orange juice close, like it would protect him from what was happening to his life.

 

“I didn’t either, before I was turned. Definitely one of the perks.”

 

Jeno looks at Mark. He kinda really wants to run away and never hear another word about vampires again, but then he hears a burp. Somehow, he knows that it came from two floors below, where someone was chewing something crunchy. He decided to stay put.

 

“Okay,” Mark sighs, “I have no idea what I’m doing; I just want to let you know that now. My sire left me as soon as I was turned, so I’ve had to figure out this whole  _ vampire _ thing mostly myself. It probably wasn’t the best idea to turn you, but hey, I’m still alive, so I guess I’m doing something right. Well, my boyfriend, Donghyuck, is doing something right; he deals with everything, really.

 

“Anyways -- not the point. You’ll meet him later; he has class right now. Because you’re a fledgling, and I’m assuming you don’t want to murder anyone, you’ll have to feed from me until you develop better control of yourself. Unfortunately, that means you can’t eat until Hyuck gets home, because I have to feed from him before I can feed you. You following?”

 

Jeno nods slowly, not really following at all. 

 

Mark continues, “Cool. So, you won’t have to feed from me for very long, hopefully, just a week or two. You shouldn’t be getting blood everywhere by then. Technically, you could feed from any vampire -- or creature with enhanced healing, because you are  _ not  _ going to use your spit right the first few times.”

 

Jeno decides to ignore the last comment for now, save it for another time when he can deal with whatever  _ that  _ entails, and focuses on something else. “Creature?”

 

The other startles, like he hadn’t even realized how vague he was being. “Oh, yes, creatures. Werewolves, mermaids and sirens, shapeshifters, some witches, et cetera. Werewolves are more common in America, so don’t worry about that, and mermaids and sirens only live in or near large bodies of still water, like lakes. You’re more likely to run into shapeshifters, witches, and some other creatures like that, but I can explain that all later. Anyways,

 

“It’s actually really good for our sire-fledgling bond thing if you feed from me. According to an older vamp I met a while ago, if a sire cares for their fledgling when they are young, they’ll develop a really strong bond. It helps them be more in tune with each other. Kind of like friends that have known one another for their whole lives, I guess. It’s also good, because if for some reason one of them is unable to go out and feed, the other can let them drink from them. Once you grow out of your fledgling phase, you won’t be able to drink another vampire’s blood, only mine. In turn, I’ll be able to feed from you, too.”

 

Awesome. Sweet. Sounds great. None of anything Mark had just said was registering in his brain, because it was too busy running around screaming  _ ‘What the Fuck! What the Fuck!’ _ but. Cool.

 

His orange juice is gone, which is sad, because he kind of wanted to try and drown himself in it. How upsetting.

 

Instead, he nods at Mark. “That was -- that was … a lot. So. I’m gonna need a few days to … process.”

 

“Totally understandable,” his  _ sire _ \-- did he have to call Mark that? he really didn’t want to; it was fucking  _ weird --  _ rushes out. “Donghyuck should be home soon, okay? So you won’t have to wait too much longer. And -- and if you’re, like, worried about the whole ‘drinking blood’ thing, don’t. It’s, not as bad as it seems.”

 

“Cool. Uh, do I have fangs, or something? Do I just have to -- I don’t know, bite as hard as I can and hope for the best?”

 

Mark’s eyes widen. “Oh! I completely forgot about that! Yeah, you have fangs. Are your gums a little itchy? That’s because of the fangs.”

 

Jeno nods, leaning forward to place his empty glass on the coffee table with an unusual elegance to his movements. He decides it’s probably one more vampire thing, and just appreciates it. At least now he won’t go around tripping over air anymore.

 

“And, uh, how do they work?”

 

Mark shifts closer to him on the couch. “So, basically, you just … think about them? Eventually they’ll just be there when you want them to be, but because you’ve never used them before, you might have to, like,  _ will _ them to come out?”

 

Mark sounds unsure, but Jeno cuts him some slack. He had said he’d only been a vamp for a few years, and he hadn’t had anyone to help him out, so Jeno’s gonna take what he gets given. No way would he be able to do all this by himself like Mark had.

 

“I’ll show you?” asks Mark. Jeno hums in affirmative.

 

Mark open his mouth wide enough for Jeno to see. His eyes flash red briefly, and then there are two elongated teeth extending from Mark’s gums. They disappear again, and Jeno takes this as a signal to try for himself.

 

He doesn’t really know what to do, so he thinks,  _ I am very hungry,  _ and hopes for the best.

 

Something sharp cuts his lip, and he inhales sharply. Across from him, Mark grins proudly. 

 

“You did it! Be careful, though, yeah? They’re super sharp. Now, make them go away.”

 

Jeno does just that, somehow, and grins so wide his eyes squint up into crescents. Mark coos at him, probably without realizing it, and he ignores how happy it makes him.

 

He practices extending and dismissing his fangs a few more times, until he can do it just like Mark.

 

🝖

 

Donghyuck arrives home an hour later, covered in sweat and bearing ice cream. Jeno doesn’t know exactly what he was expecting, but it wasn’t … this. 

 

Donghyuck’s voice was high and melodious, his face small and hair curly. Jeno was stunned by Donghyuck’s golden skin; it seemed to glow whenever the sun leaking through the window hit it. He was also very easy to get along with. 

 

They didn’t talk for very long before Donghyuck dragged Mark off to the shower to let him feed, but he easily made Jeno feel right at home. He wasn’t the best at meeting new people, so this came as a relief, especially seeing as he was going to be living with the couple now. 

 

(Oh yeah. Mark had mentioned it’d probably be a good idea for him to live in their spare bedroom until he got used to being a vampire. Jeno very much appreciated this, not only because help lived with him if he ever needed it, but also because he’d finally be able to get away from his disgusting, sex-addicted, druggie dorm mate. 

 

This whole vampire thing was really working out for him so far.)

 

Jeno hadn’t realized just how hungry he’d gotten while waiting for Donghyuck to get home until he smells the human’s blood. He’s relieved when the couple finally leave the bathroom. It means he gets to eat. 

 

Donghyuck walks into the living room first, arms full of towels. He drops them in the middle of the room before gesturing for Jeno to join him. 

 

“Since it’s your first time feeding, you’ll probably be a bit messy. If you ever want to wear that shirt again, I’d suggest removing it.”

 

If Jeno had had any extra blood in him that wasn’t keeping his body functioning, he would’ve blushed. He was not the most confident in his body … except. He had  _ abs  _ now. 

 

Trying not to seem too excited, Jeno whips his shirt off and looks down.

 

Ooh. 

 

_ Nice.  _

 

Donghyuck snorts, and only then does Jeno realize he had said that out loud. Mark walks into the room topless, holding two clean shirts. Laughter rumbles in his chest -- probably at Jeno’s reaction. 

 

How embarrassing.

 

Is he not allowed to appreciate his suddenly super nice body without judgement from others?

 

They spread the towels over the floor, coffee table pushed off to the side. 

 

Mark and Jeno kneel in the centre of the little, towel-covered space, and Donghyuck stands off to the side, decked out in an absurd amount of silver jewelry, just in case. 

 

“You ready?” Mark asks, holding his wrist out. 

 

Jeno nods, grabbing Mark’s wrist. He lets his fangs drop with a flash of red eyes as he brings it up to his face. Taking a deep breath, he bites. 

 

Blood floods his mouth immediately and he almost pulls away to gasp. 

 

It tastes so  _ good.  _

 

He shuffles closer to Mark, clutching his wrist so hard there are sure to be bruises. Fingers start running through his hair and he presses closer to his sire’s body. 

 

He understands the bond between sire and fledgling Mark had spoken of earlier. His heart sings when Mark pulls him nearer, arm around his back, hand playing with his hair. 

 

When he comes to, hunger satiated, Jeno finds himself practically in Mark’s lap. Both him and Donghyuck have fingers in his hair, smoothing it down. He feels content. 

 

“Hello, there he is,” Donghyuck murmurs. He sounds like he’s singing. “How are you feeling Jeno?”

 

“Better. Full. Thank you.”

 

“No need to thank us Jeno.” Mark has a soft smile on his face as he says this. 

 

“Cool.”  _ Gods,  _ he really had to stop saying that. “About that ice cream -- Hyuck? Mark calls you Hyuck, so I’m going to, too -- Hyuck brought home. What flavour is it?”

 

Donghyuck grins at him, smile brighter than the sun. “Mint chocolate chip.”

 

Mark makes a disgusted noise, but Jeno pays him no mind. He perks up. “Really? I love mint chocolate chip! Can I have some?”

 

Donghyuck giggles, “Of course. Come, I’ll show you where everything in the kitchen is while we’re there.”


	2. talking about your problems is good

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> jeno has a sudden moment of self-awareness, and he is not a fan

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this might be a little rushed but i just wanted to Sleep so i'm sorry but not really

 

 

Jeno had been a vamp for a while now, right? And it was pretty cool, what with the super speed and the enhanced hearing and the night vision. Even the blood drinking wasn’t that bad, you know? It was his food now, what kept him alive, so obviously his whole experience with the stuff had changed drastically.

 

Except the problem is that for the last 3, 3 and a half months of getting used to his new undead life, the fact that he was a  _ vampire _ hadn’t fully registered in his brain. Deep down, Jeno suspects his brain had just shoved all meanings associated with that word to the side. Like how you treat inconsistencies in a dream.

 

But his life  _ wasn’t  _ a dream. It wasn’t some crappy YA novel. It was  _ real _ and he was  _ living it. _

 

All of this comes rushing at him as he sinks his fangs into the neck of some drunk he’d just lured out of a bar, and  _ wow, _ self-awareness  _ sucks. _

 

The alcohol-tinted blood hits the back of his throat and he pushes his intrusive thoughts to the back of his mind, but they linger. His meal of the month had been officially and effectively ruined.

 

Jeno lets the drunk go when the puncture marks from his teeth heal over. Sighing, he turns and starts home. He should probably talk to Mark about his sudden realization; his sire surely knows how to deal with these kinds of thoughts.

 

When he gets back to his new home, however, Mark isn’t there. Instead, his boyfriend, Donghyuck, is. He and Donghyuck got along splendidly, and, despite Jeno’s many questions about why his flatmate almost always seemed to be literally glowing, never talked about anything remotely serious. 

 

Except, like, gay rights and equality and stuff. Those were important things to talk about with a new friend. 

 

Jeno didn’t know how he felt about talking to Donghyuck on what was probably going to cause his latest panic attack, but better to have an uncomfortable conversation than an extremely unpleasant major freak-out.

 

“Hey, Hyuck?”

 

Said man looks up from his psychology notes (he was studying to be a therapist. Maybe he was more qualified to help Jeno than Mark, actually) and smiles. “Hey Jeno. Feeding go okay?”

 

Jeno plops down on the couch and starts fiddling with his fingers. “Yeah. Went, uh, pretty normally, you know? Anyways, uh.”

 

Donghyuck waits patiently for him to start speaking. As much as he loved to talk, he knew when to keep quiet. Most of the time.

 

“So, like, while I was feeding it occurred to me that,  _ wow,  _ I’m a  _ vampire.  _ And three months ago, I just thought they were stupid things from bad YA novels. But -- but I  _ am  _ one, and suddenly being conscious of myself is --  _ not fun.  _ Not. A. Fan.  _ Nope. _ ”

 

The younger turns back to his notes for a second, before dropping his pen and pulling himself up onto the couch next to Jeno. He grabs Jeno’s hand, looks him in the eye. “I have no idea what you’re going through, not exactly. But I have been in a similar situation. When I was younger, my mom dropping this  _ huge  _ bomb on me about my dad, and let me tell you. Twelve-year-old Donghyuck was  _ not _ ready to hear it.”

 

Jeno pays rapt attention to every word that leaves Donghyuck’s mouth. Sometimes when he spoke, it was like whoever he was speaking to was in a trance, only able to pay attention to Donghyuck. Plus, he was secretly hoping for some new dirt on his flatmates’ absent father. He was nosy like that.

 

“After finding out, I buried it with the rest of my emotions, but -- something happened, and I had to accept everything my mom told me. It was kind of like waking up from a dream to find out it wasn’t one the whole time. It’ll take a lot of effort on your part not to just -- freak out and run away, but Mark and I can help you with what we can, okay?”

 

He nods. Donghyuck squeezes his hand and he squeezes back.

 

“Thank you.”

 

Though it was hard, Jeno knew he’d definitely have to ask for help sometimes from his friends. He couldn’t force himself through things. Jeno was suddenly extremely grateful for Donghyuck, his new common sense pointer-outer. That’s what a therapist was, right? 

 

Donghyuck smiles, bright as the stars, and stands up. “Anytime. It’s what I’m here for. Ice cream?”

 

Jeno sits up too quickly, startling Donghyuck. Despite living with two vampires, sudden movements like that still took him by surprise.

 

“Mark’s gross pecan shit is finally gone? Did you get more mint chocolate chip? Gods, it took him forever to eat that garbage.” 

 

The younger nods.

 

“Yes! Oh, Mark is gonna be so upset with you when he gets home.”

 

They both laugh, excitedly moving to the kitchen to get their ice cream fix (so maybe he and Donghyuck had a bit of a problem. Whatever. It’s not like Mark was about to do something about it.)

 

“He can be upset all he wants. Just means no kisses for him.”

 

Jeno just has to high-five him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thank you for reading!  
> also: go! listen to jongdae's solo album! it's! so!! good!!!  
> (i think love words is my favourite tbh)  
> that is all, have a good day


	3. he's reeeaaal pretty, that's for sure

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> jeno meets jaemin

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> if this is actually terrible,,, i'm sorry.  
> the 'I Wrote This Instead of Sleeping' tag is there for a reason, after all  
> enjoy!

 

 

5 months into his new life, and Jeno thinks he’s not doing so bad; not bad at all.

 

He doesn’t get blood everywhere when he feeds anymore; he can get his own food now, without Donghyuck’s help. Strong emotions don’t make his eyes turn red as often as they used to, and he hasn’t accidentally crushed something in his grasp in weeks. The enhanced hearing was still a bit of a struggle, but he’s learning how to figure out which noises can be heard by humans and which can’t. 

 

Living with Mark and Donghyuck was also great. The apartment was -- relatively -- clean, there was food in the fridge, and he didn’t have to deal with his dorm mate anymore. At least Mark and Donghyuck were kind enough to kick him out of the apartment before getting it on.

 

School had been a worry after Jeno had remembered that he did in fact attend university, but Hyuck had come up with the brilliant idea of faking a severe injury for a few months, so he wouldn’t have to physically show up. Jeno hadn’t bothered where his flatmate had gotten the medical records, but still. He was thankful.

 

Now, as a new semester starts, it is time for him to return to school.

 

(Yay.)

 

Mark was kind enough to drop Donghyuck and him off before work, driving away after giving his boyfriend a kiss and Jeno a fist bump. 

 

“Okay.” Donghyuck turns to him. “I’m sure you’ll be fine, but just in case, remember to text me if you have to leave before dance at three, yeah? So I know where you are.”

 

“Yes mom,” he snickers, eyes turned up into crescents. He runs away before Hyuck can smack him.

 

Unlike Mark, who went to university just to say he did, and then got a job completely unrelated to what he studied, or Donghyuck, who was studying something useful, Jeno majored in math. Like, there were lots of jobs for math majors, obviously, but. Meh.

 

Jeno was only a math major because he didn’t suck at it as much as he did everything else.

 

After his painful early morning math lecture, he has half an hour of nothing before Mandarin for Beginners. When registering for this semester, he figured it’d probably be useful to learn a second language. He had a long life ahead of him, and maybe it’d come in handy someday.

 

If he had thought math was painful -- all of the math nerds were looking at him and whispering about  _ how the hell did some jock get into this class? _ \-- then Mandarin was torture. Literally all of the class consisted of native speakers there for an easy mark, and the entire cheer team.

 

When he’d asked one of them for their number, just in case he missed a class or something, she laughed in his face and told him to fuck off.

 

Rude.

 

Jeno decides to waste the time between language and dance by lying on a bench somewhere, pretending to fill out a worksheet. When he nods off for the third time in a row, he rolls off the bench with a groan, and starts in the direction of the dance studio. Might as well get in some extra stretching before class starts in an hour.

 

Pushing the studio door open, Jeno startles at the sight of a motionless body star-fished on the practice room floor.

 

“Uhm … hello?” He can hear a steady heartbeat, so he isn’t too worried. They’re probably just asleep. Walking over to the wall, he drops his bag next to one he assumes belongs to the sleeping stranger, and begins to warm up.

 

Halfway through his second set of handstand push ups (because he could  _ do that  _ now), the body starts to move. The stranger, an attractive male around the same age as Jeno, makes the cutest noises as he stretches his arms above his head.

 

Jeno lowers himself to his feet, and speaks up, lest the stranger get spooked at the sight of him. “Hello?”

 

The man sits up suddenly, head whipping around to look at Jeno.

 

“Hi.”

 

“... Hey,” the stranger says.  _ Wow,  _ he has a nice voice. “How -- how long have you been here?”

 

“Oh, uh.” He checks his phone. “About an hour? I have a class here in a few minutes and I wanted to get in some extra stretching and stuff. Sorry for, like, not waking you up. I just -- yeah.”

 

“I have dance class here too! That’s so cool. I also came here to warm up -- I need more time ‘cause I’ve got a bad back, gotta make sure that’s all warmed up and ready for dance -- but I fell asleep. Obviously.”

 

Jeno nods.

 

“My name’s Jaemin.”

 

Jeno starts at the hand that’s shoved in his face. He takes it, shaking it once. “Jeno. Nice to meet you.”

 

“Yes, yes it is. You’re my friend now, okay? Can I have your number?”

 

Jeno goes to say something, some sort of excuse -- he barely even knew the guy -- but then Jaemin smiled.

 

It didn’t literally light up the room like Hyuck’s, but it was easily the brightest thing Jeno had ever seen.

 

_ Wow, that’s gay. _

 

“What is?”

 

Jeno blushes down to his toes, which is totally possible right now, because he fed the night before. Gods, he needed how to learn to keep his thoughts in his head.

 

“Uh. Me. Sorry, I didn’t mean to say that out loud --”

 

“Oh, same! Cool, now you definitely have to be my friend. Here.” Jaemin hands him back his phone. When did Jeno hand him his phone?

 

“This is great; I love making new friends. Come, let’s help each other stretch while the rest of our classmates come. Tell me about yourself, Jeno.”

 

Something about Jaemin makes it impossible for him to deny, so Jeno spends the rest of the time before class starts telling Jaemin about himself.

 

He didn’t even notice that Donghyuck had joined their conversation until he and Jaemin were laughing at something stupid Jeno had done, as he pouted off to the side.

 

Okay. Cool. Jeno didn’t think he had ever made a friend so easily in his life, but Jaemin seems chill. Bonus points that Donghyuck likes him, too.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thank you very much for reading!  
> idk when i'll be done with part 3, but it Is in the works, so  
> have a nice day, eat some chocolate, adios

**Author's Note:**

> thank you for reading


End file.
